7 Songs Inspired By Illness

Art is an attempt to connect to different human experiences on an emotional, spiritual plane, often bypassing the intellect. Deep sorrow is as much a stimulus for artistic creativity as intense joy is. So, it's not surprising that musicians often take a situation fraught with pain and use it to inspire uplifting art.

If there's a silver lining to the coronavirus cloud currently casting its gloom across the entire planet, it's the knowledge that artists will be drawing on the pandemic to create new interpretations of the human condition. They will be in good company; here's a brief list of just some of the famous songs inspired by debilitating conditions:

1. Anastacia, Broken Wings

As the title suggests, Anastacia's Resurrection album was her response to her fight against breast cancer in 2013. After surgery to remove malignant tissue, the US singer-songwriter's breasts were reconstructed with muscle tissue taken from her back. She now has wings tattooed on her back to cover those scars, and the song references her fight against the disease.

2. Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer

Although the Type 1 diabetes afflicting Nick Jonas is manageable, it can make him tire easily and leave him in an irritable mood. A Little Bit Longer was written at the end of a rough day, expressing his frustration with the condition. It crashed into the Billboard 200 at Number 1 in August 2008.

3. Elton John, Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes

Released in 2001, this is one of Elton John's angrier songs. It's a memorial to a dancer who contracted Aids when the virus emerged in the 1980s. It's infused with anger at the likes of former US president Ronald Reagan and other politicians, whose inept handling of the health crisis led to too many unnecessary deaths, including that of "the boy in the red shoes".

4. Madness, Cardiac Arrest

The title is self-explanatory; a reference by Chas Smash, trumpeter, harmonica player and backing vocalist in the legendary ska band, to his father's numerous heart attacks. In 1982, he co-wrote this song with Chris Foreman as a warning to workaholics to take it easy. It's a sobering message to all and reminds us to take the time to enjoy the apuestas deportivas Chile has to offer, and other recreational activities.

5. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Christine

This 1977 song is one of the first to explore dissociative identity disorder, then known as "multiple personality disorder". It's about Christine Costner-Sizemore, subject of the book The Three Faces Of Eve, and the 22 separate personalities that she battled to integrate.

6. David Bowie, Killing A Little Time

One of the most poignant songs in this collection, Killing A Little Time appeared on the 2018 EP No Play, released a year after Bowie's death in January 2017. It's an angry rant against the liver cancer that would kill him.

7. Stone Temple Pilots, Bi-Polar Bear

It deals with a serious subject that is increasingly of concern in mental health, but still manages to include a note of whimsy in the wordplay on "polar". The song is Scott Weiland's response to the discovery that he and his wife, Mary Forsberg, both suffer from this brain-chemistry disorder.